Omegamorphs 1 The Start
by Penderdragon
Summary: If you want a complete story, don't look here. If you're looking for a story that will be finished, don't look here. Please don't read this story, I was not as good of a writer as I am now, but read my other stories. This is a sorry excuse for a fanfic.
1. When Everything Changed

My name is Kevin. And that's all I can tell you about myself. It's too dangerous to say anything else. I could tell you my last name, or my city or school. But I won't, because the Yeerks are everywhere. They could be anyone. I could say my last name, or my school, or address, but then they would find me. They would find my family, and my friends. And they would-well, let's just say I need to stay hidden. What the Yeerks do to people who resist… I don't like thinking about it.

I don't think of what I'm doing as writing. I think of it as recording. Writing down what happens so that future generations can know what horrible things happened. And maybe people in this time can read this and learn. Maybe then we'll be able to hold on until the Andalites rescue us, like they promised. Just maybe.

I remember the night my life changed forever. It all started while I was walking home from Radio Shack. I was kind of jumpy, and I really wanted to get home. If I wasn't in such a hurry, then I might not have cut through the abandoned lot. Might not have met _him_. Might not have had everything I know radically changed. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

It was the evening, and the sun was going down. I'd been desperate to finish my robot. But my parents had said that my annoying little sister and my brother Max had to come with me, Max because I was "too young to be out without an older sibling" and Betsy because _she_ was too too young to be out without an older sibling.

"For the last time, no, I'm not going to pay for your candy. _You_ were the one begging to come with me, and it is _your _fault you forgot your last dime."

"Pleeeeeease, I promise I'll pay you back."

"_Okaaaayyy,_ but I need to get my parts first; I'll give you my change."

It took fifteen minutes of arguing before I finally went to Radio Shack. When I got there, it took an hour to find the parts I needed, and another ten minutes to buy them. After I had finally bought my stuff, the sun was setting, and by the time I got to Betsy and started walking home, it was nearly pitch-black and I won't deny it, the night creeped me out. I jumped at the slightest sound, the shadows looked sinister, and the rare flash of light looked like dancing flames.

I was shaking, shivering, and terrified. Finally, I decided that I couldn't take it anymore. When Betsy and I passed this abandoned old lot in our neighborhood, I grabbed her arm and said, "We're going through the lot." I could tell she was scared also, so I was surprised when she said:

"B-but , M-m-mom said n-never t-to go through it."

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Besides, would you rather go the long way, and make it take that much longer? I gotta get home!"

"A-all right. Fine, let's go."

As I walked through the lot, I was so scared, I was starting to think I should have just gone the long way. Chunks of rubble looked like body parts, oil-stained machinery looked like bloody weapons, and cinder blocks looked like bombs. I could have sworn we were being followed, and I was about to say "Let's turn back," when _it_ happened.

Out of nowhere, it was a big, silver, flying thing, hurtling towards the ground. I knew exactly what it looked like, but I didn't say because I knew Betsy and Max would call me crazy. Actually, thinking that was not quite true, because five seconds later, Betsy yelled, "It's an alien spaceship!"


	2. An Alien Ship

Max _did_ say "You're crazy, Betsy. Aliens dont exi-AAAHHHHHH!". As you might have guessed, the screams started after he looked up. Seriously, it was a spaceship! It was about as long as a school bus. The front end was a pod, shaped almost like an egg. Extending from the back of the pod was a long, narrow shaft. There were two crooked, stubby wing-like things, and on the end of each wing was a long tube that glowed bright blue on the back end. The little ship looked sort of cute. You know, almost harmless, until you saw that it had a sort of mean-looking tail that curved up and forward, coming to a point that looked as sharp as a sword.

While we were watching I noticed we were both bathed in the blue glow from the ship, and our hair was standing straight up.

"It's about to land!" I yelled as it descended. When it landed, instantly the blue lights went off, and our hair turned back to normal. I noticed there were black burn marks along the top of the pod section. Some of the skin of the pod had been melted.

"That thing's tail- it's definitely a weapon," I whispered to Betsy. "We should leave. We don't want to get hurt."

"We should totally get a camera, we could get sooo much money for film of a real, live UFO."

"Really? There's an alien spacecraft that could, I don't know, blast us with its phase cannons or disintegrate us or whatever if we run, and _you_ are just thinking about money?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"We should try and communicate. Everyone speaks English in Star Trek. Maybe it can tell us what it needs from us."

[**I do not need or want anything from you.**]

I had no idea what it was. I heard the voice, but it was in my head. Someone had definitely said "I do not need or want anything from you" but there hadn't been a single sound. It was like I heard it in my head.

[**I will come out now. Do not be frightened by my appearance.**]

Then, suddenly, a crescent-shaped hole appeared in the pod. I realized it was the door. As it opened, it became a full circle. A pathway extended down to the ground. And he stepped out. You think you've seen weird aliens, in movies or on TV? Compared to the creature that stepped out, any fictional alien is downright normal.

Well, the first thing you think when you see him is a blue and tan centaur. That's true, sort of. His lower body looks like a blue and tan horse, or more like a deer, maybe. And his chest is humanoid. He had a pair of weak arms with too many fingers. And he had shoulders and a head. But then you look at the actual head. He had no mouth, which might explain the telepathy thing. And his nose was just three vertical slits. His ears were pointed. And don't even get me started on the eyes! His main eyes were big, and a shocking glittery-green. But his second pair of eyes was mounted on stalks, which could go in any direction: up, down, left right, forward, back, and at any angle. But as amazing as these things were, it was the tail that really grabbed your eye. It was thick, and powerful-looking. It seemed to be completely controllable, and there was a huge blade at the end. It looked like an anaconda with a stinger. The alien reminded me of the ship, you think "harmless" until you see the tail, at which time you think, "Whoa, this guy could do damage."

I suddenly felt happy, like the alien was a long-lost friend I had known forever. And I realized there were tears in my eyes. I looked around and saw similar feelings in Betsy and Max.

[**Hello.**] I heard in that telepathy voice.

"Hi," we said back.

Then, suddenly he staggered. He stumbled off the walkway and onto the ground. I tried to catch him, to hold him up, but he tumbled out of my grip. That was when I noticed the burn. It covered half of his right side.

"You're hurt!"I yelled, feeling despair.

[**Yes. I am dying.**]

"Can't we do something? Like call an ambulance, or bandage it, or, I don't know, something? Anything."

[**No. I will die. The wound is fatal.**]

"NOOO! You can't die. You're the first alien to come to Earth. You… can't die." I don't know what it was, but in my heart, I knew something would hurt if he died.

[**No, I am not the first. There are many, many others. There are thousands, maybe more.**]

Suddenly a blast of pain shot at me through thought-speak. I felt... like each atom in my body was being stabbed by a needle at the same time. He cried out in pain. I realized that I could _feel _him dying. And then Max asked, "Like you?"

[**No. Not like me. They are different.**]

"Different? How?"

[**They have come to destroy you.**]


	3. Yeerks

[**They have come to destroy** **you**.]

The weird thing (what did I just say? My whole life has been weird since I found the alien!) is that we didn't even protest. We believed that he was dying, and he had to warn someone of a terrible thing.

[**They are called Yeerks. They are different from us. Different from you as well.**]

"Are you telling me they're already here on Earth?" Max demanded.

[**Many are here. Perhaps five thousand. Maybe more.**]

"Why hasn't anybody noticed them?" I questioned. "Five thousand aliens, invading Earth? Don't you think _someone_ would have caught them on video?

[**You do not understand. Yeerks are different. They have no body, like yours or mine. They take over the bodies of other species. They are...**]

I suppose he couldn't describe Yeerks, so he sent me a thought-speak image. It was a slug the size of a rat, with bits sticking out all over. It was disgusting.

"That was a Yeerks? And they take over human bodies?" Betsy asked in disbelief.

[**Yes. They are powerless without hosts. The-**] I felt a wave of pain from him, and I knew he didn't have much time left. [**The Yeerks are parasites. They must have a host to live in. In this form they are known as Controllers. They enter the brain and are absorbed into it, taking over the host completely. They want the host to submit voluntarily. It is much easier that way. Otherwise the host may be able to resist, at least a little.**]

"Look, this is really serious stuff," I said. "You shouldn't be telling us. We're just kids, you know. This is something the government should know about."

[**We had hoped to stop them,**] the alien continued**. **[**Swarms of their Bug fighters were waiting when our Dome ship came out of Zero-space. We knew of their mother ship and were ready for the Bug fighters, but the Yeerks surprised us- they hid a powerful Blade ship in a crater of your moon. We fought, but we... we lost. They have tracked me here. They will be here soon to eliminate all traces of me and my ship.**]

"How can they do that?" Max wondered.

The alien seemed to smile with his eyes. [**Their Dracon beams will leave nothing behind but a few molecules of this ship, and... this body**.] he said. [**I sent a message to my home world. We Andalites fight the Yeerks wherever they go throughout the universe. My people will send help, but it may take a year, even more, and by then the Yeerks will have control of this planet. After that, there is no hope. You must tell people. You must warn your people!**]

"There's one little flaw in that plan. No one will ever believe us. They'll think we're crazy." And it was true. If there was no trace left, we would have no proof. There was no way on Earth. Wait. What does that have to do with anything? I mean, there... was no way in the universe.

[**Wait. Perhaps…**] I saw a twinkle of a smile in his eyes. [**Go into my ship. You will find a small box, very plain. Bring it to me. Very quickly. The Yeerks will find me soon, and I have very little time.**]

I walked over to the door of the ship and looked inside. It was surprisingly simple. It looked cozy, almost. Everything was a creamy color with rounded edges and shapes that usually tended to be oval. That was one of the things that helped me to spot the box so easily. It was sky blue and a cube, maybe three inches on each side. It seemed kind of heavy, considering it was so little. I stepped up into the ship. There was no chair, just sort of open space where I guess the Andalite stood on his four hooves while he worked the few controls. There weren't a lot of buttons or anything. I wondered if the Andalite controlled the ship with his thoughts.

I quickly reached for the box and started to head back outside. But then something really caught my vision. It was small, three-dimensional picture- four Andalites, all standing together, looking like a strange gathering of deer with solemn faces. Two of them looked pretty small- kids. I realized that this was a picture of the Andalite's family. It filled me with sadness to think that here he was, dying, millions of miles from his family. Dying because he was trying to protect the people of Earth- the entire human race. I felt a burning ember of anger against the Yeerks, or Controllers, or whatever they were, for causing this. I decided to take the picture, to remind myself of the Andalite, and what these Yeerks were doing to him, and our planet.

I walked back to Betsy and the Andalite. I handed the Andalite the box.

[**Thank you.**]

"I, um, well, uh... was that your family? That picture?"

[**Yes.**]

"I'm really sorry" was all that I said. It was all I could say. Comforting wasn't really my thing, and besides, my brain had been wringed out and forced to absorb tons of info. Like a sponge.

[**There is something I may be able to do to help you fight the Yeerks. I know that you are young. I know that you have no power with which to resist the Controllers. But I may be able to give you some small powers to help. It is a piece of Andalite technology that the Yeerks do not have,**] the Andalite explained. [**A technology that enables us to pass unnoticed in many parts of the universe- the power to morph. We have never shared this power. But your need is great.**]

"What do you mean by morph? Morph how?" Max asked, his eyes narrowed.

[**To change our bodies,**] the Andalite said. [**To become any other species. Any animal that has DNA.**]

"Become animals? That's impossible. Wait. What am I saying? This whole night has been impossible. Every impossible thing I can think of has happened. How does this morphing technology work?" I asked resignedly.

[**You need only touch an animal, to acquire its DNA, and then focus your mind on the animal, and you will change, turning into that animal. Any animal you can find and touch. It requires much determination, but you can do it if you are strong. There are problems. Dangers. Limits. I have no time to tell you. You must find out for yourself. Do you wish to receive this power?**]

"I have to," I said, "because I'm not going to stand by, and let an army of alien slugs conquer our world. This is too real not to believe. Unless, of course I'm insane and locked up in the loony bin."

"I agree," Max stated, "because we're the only ones that know about this, we have to fight. It's our duty to the world.

"I don't know," Betsy began, "I mean, this is serious business, and we're just two kid and a teenager. How much time do we have to decide this?" She paused for a moment. "Woah, what's that?" Betsy whispered, sounding scared. She was again looking up towards the stars. Far, far overhead two pinpoints of bright red lights were shooting across the sky.

[**You have no time to decide. Those are Yeerks.**] The Andalite said the word in our minds, and we could feel his hatred.


	4. The Morphing Cube

Something has come to my attention as I've been looking at the Calvin and Hobbes fan-fiction archive. A high percentage of the C&H authors are absolutely deluded. Essentially all of the stories in which Calvin has grown up, he has completely matured and is... _retch... _normal. So I have decided to make a _realistic_ fan-fiction in which Calvin is an adult. Enjoy, read, review, and do not flame. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT!

P.S. I don't own anything I may mention.

* * *

Nineteen years doesn't seem like that much sometimes. But for Calvin, the past nineteen years had been a rollercoaster of fun, delinquency, boredom, delinquency, hard times, delinquency, cat burglary, and still more delinquency. And his only friend throughout all of this, the only thing he could rely on, was his tiger, Hobbes.

Even though he was a bit young to be wandering down Memory Lane, Calvin couldn't help but flip through his iPad's digital photo album.

"HEY, HOBBES!"

"Oh, how he cares..."

But Calvin was already absorbed in his memories.

* * *

MONTAGE- AGE SIX

A boy wearing a pith helmet, a red-and-black striped shirt, and sort of tan sneakers looked at his father and said, "So long, Pop, I'm off to check my tiger trap." Later the same boy, now revealed to have blond and spiky hair, looked on as a tiger walking on two legs stuffed his face and said, "Really, I couldn't eat another bite." Then, the same boy, only in winter clothes, pasted a brown-haired girl with a slushball.

In autumn, the boy (He was named Calvin, of course) yelled at the same girl, "Hey, Susie Derkins, is that your face, or is there a possum in your collar? I hope you have a debilitating brain aneurysm, you freak!" and watched her running away crying. Then, a stupid-looking kid held Calvin up against a wall and said, "Gimme a quarter, Twinkie," and Calvin responded, "You must have serious social development problems if this is how you relate to people, Moe." Calvin threw a barrage of water balloons in the summer, and complained about having to shovel the driveway in winter. He made up crazy answers in school, and fantasized year-round. He played in the snow with his tiger, Hobbes, and complained, and complained, and complained.

* * *

"Ahhhhh, that was an amazing year. It was so long, and action-packed, and sometimes boring and stuff... It felt like 10 years, not 1. Oh, well. Hey, Hobbes, I'm in a reminiscing kind of mood. You want to discuss our lives up until this point?"

"Eh, why not?"

[Author's Note: When any characters discuss something, I just write it this way:

Calvin:

Hobbes:

Etc:

And actions are represented in italics or emoticons, e.g :( or -_Calvin facepalmed-._

End Transmission]

Calvin: So, I've already had a memory montage about age 6, so let's start at age 7.

Hobbes: I remember that 1/3 of the way through your second year of 1st grade, you finally realized that you couldn't become rich, successful, and powerful if you didn't apply yourself at school.

C: So, I applied myself, and instantly became a straight-A+ student and I skipped forward to 2nd grade where I was supposed to be. Oh, and that was the year I built my all-purpose water balloon/snowball catapult.

H: Yeah, most people's pranks become more crude and juvenile as they get older. _Yours _became more sophisticated.

C: Then, I was skipped forward again to 3rd grade, and I had something new to do at recess: rub my success in Susie's face.

H: Oh, and you also made a super-sized mud launcher by connecting 20 mud-filled Super Soakers and mounting them on a wheeled platform.

C: Age 7... The year Stupendous Man actually won a battle with Babysitter Girl. So, then at age 8, I got skipped ahead _again_ and was even farther ahead than I had been. Yeah, 5th grade... it was really fun. We had that dinosaur unit in science and I knew so much more about them than the teacher and the rest of the class, my teacher actually went temporarily insane and resigned.

H: Yeah, that new teacher really was cool. For that unit, didn't he have your class watch the entire _Jurassic Park _series for "educational purposes"?

C: Oh, yeah, and because I was so far ahead of the rest of the class in that unit, he also allowed me to have a fifteen-minute break every day during science to go rub my academic success in Susie's face. Also, when we went back to the Cretaceous Period that year, he actually believed that the pictures I brought were real, not like _Dad _that other time.

H: When you were 8, didn't you also make your Incredible Vandalism Tri-Pack for the science fair?

C: Oh yeah, my Dye Pack Grenades, my Chalk-Dust Puff Gun, and my Dye-Filled Balloon Bazooka. I also started working on high-school level math. Also, I think that was the year you mauled that cheeky squirrel.

H: That damn squirrel...

C: And at age 9, I started middle school. I seem to remember designing a fully viable space probe capable of traveling to the edge of the solar system in under a decade, and still having enough power to get back. I was unhappy at first, because Susie was still in elementary school, but then I remembered -_he giggled evilly- _our school teaches K-12! Mwahahaha!

H: You also joined the Association of Child Paleontologists, and organized a snowball fight in the lunchroom.

C: Oh, yeah, the Great Lunchroom Riot of '95, that was awesome! Oh, and I almost forgot, that was the year I made that mini green dye-bomb and hid it in the big pot of soup in the cafeteria. And when it blew up, It looked the the soup was rotten and explosive.

H: We also went to Pluto and had a long discussion with the Plutonians about the planet controversy. Hey, didn't you get skipped ahead _again _the next year, to be in the 8th grade at age 10?

C: Ha, yeah. When I was ten, didn't I build a fully functional tyrannosaur robot with every single point of articulation, full sensory capacity and an air-conditioned piloting chamber inside?

H: Oh, yeah, and 8th grade was the year of the First Great Hobbes Stuffed Animal Controversy, where your parents, teachers, peers, and seventeen guidance counselors tried to convince you I was a stuffed animal, and tear us apart, before they gave up.

C: Right, I got a trophy for how many counselors retired after trying to counsel me. Seventeen smashed the previous record of two set by Marvin Bickensteen in '78. And I also developed a colorless, odorless, non-toxic chemical that makes water taste like broccoli and turn peoples' mouths purple. Remember the Purple Mouth Broccoli Water Epidemic of '96?

H: I remember getting some of the powder on me before I had a swim. I was purple for a week.

C: Yeah, your after school pounce-and-mauls were twice as bad as normal for months. Then, age 11. My freshman year..."

* * *

**FLASHBACK TIME!**

Calvin's parents were getting into a heated debate about whether or not to allow Calvin to go to high school at age 11.

Calvin's Mom: There is absolutely no way we are letting Calvin go to high school. He's only 11!

Calvin's Dad: Can you believe we're having this conversation? 5 years ago we were trying to discuss how to get him to try harder in first grade. Also, we should let Calvin go to high school while he's still feeling academic. We may never have this chance again! Oh, and it will build character.

CM: Okay, first, stop it with references to character-building. But you are right. We may never have this chance again! So, Calvin's going to high school! -_in a quieter voice- _Besides, if he didn't go to school, he would just spend his days trashing the house.

* * *

C: I remember that I had a bad reputation before I even started. Stupid Rosalyn, posting pictures on the school website and newspaper saying "If you see this boy, don't be friends with him!" every year. Damn Ros...

H: Yeah, remember that senior who picked on you for bringing a "stuffed" animal to high school? Uh, John Crivmar? Didn't I maul him for that? He needed a bath.

C: Yeah, Tommy Chestnutt all over again. Didn't I make an automatic TP'er with paper that had micro dye-packs inside? I just fired it, and a house got TP'ed. Then when they tried to clean it up, bang! SPLOOOOOSHHHHHHHHHH!

H: Yeah, you took impermanent vandalism to a whole new level that year. I mean, it's awesome, there's the whoosh, bang, SPLOOSH!

C: Remember the Reality Blip when I was 12? The 137-day period between when puberty hit and when I reined in the mental effects of my hormones?

H: Yeah, you set a world record and gave yourself an intelligence-supercharge all at once. It's amazing what hormones can do when they're focused the right way. Would you like to watch the Reality Blip Montage DVD?

C: No, but I guess we have to.

Calvin got up, grabbed a DVD marked _Highly Confidential: If Not Calvin or Hobbes, Watch at Your Own Risk of Being Mauled by a Tiger or Ruined Financially by an Uber-Rich Businessman._

* * *

The Reality Blip

-_A series of words run down the screen over a background of Calvin's six-year-old face contorting in a series of gross expressions.-_

It was a period of mystery. 137 days in which Calvin was a normal pubescent child. It seems impossible, but he fought and won against this new enemy. The events on this DVD may seem impossible, unthinkable, but they are all true. And they must never leave this room except in Calvin's and/or Hobbes' electronic devices, for they could be used for blackmail. This is a horrible chapter in the history of Calvin and the organization G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy girlS).

[This is a short montage which I represent in this format.

Show BLANK

Switch to BLANK

Etc.]

Show Calvin burning the G.R.O.S.S. Handbook to a bewildered Hobbes.

Switch to Calvin drooling over a girl who, despite aging, is clearly Susie. Hobbes looks on, muttering, "All is not right in the world."

Switch to Calvin being courteous to Susie.

Switch to Calvin wrestling Hobbes to the dirt, screaming, "You want her to yourself, don't you?"

_-The movie pauses and a message flashes across the screen.-_

But all was not lost. Calvin was doing all he could to fight the hormones. Eventually, after an obscenely long time, Calvin won. And finally, all was right in the world.

Show Calvin hard at work at a computer, retyping the G.R.O.S.S. Manual.

Switch to Calvin sling-shooting a rapid-fire barrage of slush-filled water balloons at Susie from a massive rig with a half-inch thick rubber band, steel reinforcements, and an infrared laser-targeting system.

Switch to Calvin using his Super Bidectuple Mud Launcher on Susie.

Switch to Calvin using his Dye-Filled Balloon Bazooka on Susie and her friends.

Switch to Calvin awarding Hobbes and himself with G.R.O.S.S. badges and promotions.

* * *

C: I wish that 137-day period never happened, but it did. That was the best year ever for G.R.O.S.S. I didn't invent anything new, but high school science and every other class were all actually pretty fun. Well, except P.E.

H: No, didn't your class randomly choose someone to pick a unit for P.E. that year? I thought that was you!

C: Oh, yeah, the Calvinball unit!

-_Calvin jumped up and started dancing and singing the Calvinball song:_

_"Other kids' games are all such a bore!_

_They've gotta have rules and they gotta keep score!_

_Calvinball is better by far!_

_It's never the same! It's always bizarre!_

_You don't need a team or a referee!_

_You know that it's great, 'cause it's named after me!"_

H: Yeah, Calvinball. And 10th grade was also the year that you first started getting other friends besides me. It was hard for you to find someone who had your sensory capabilities and could see me. But you did. Jim Dobson is a great guy, and even though he was 15 and you were 12, he could still see me!

C: Yeah... ahhhh... Then at age 13, I blew up the school.

H: Calvin, that was just a computer simulation program you wrote. That V-R suit you and Jim made was really awesome, and _way _ahead of you time. It was 1999, and you made a completely functional virtual reality suit!. In it, you turned the school, library, and Susie's house into piles of rubble with RPG-7's, mini-nukes, and a flamethrower. You could kill all of your vindictive 1st grade school workers: Miss Wormwood, Coach Lockjaw, and Principal Spittle.

C: Jim was awesome. I transmogrified him into a disgusting booger beast and he just laughed. I duplicated him like 10 times and he made 'em into an army of slaves. We went into the future and he snuck a pair of hoverskates home. No matter what happened, he stayed just as awesome.

H: And he even helped with all of the victories of G.R.O.S.S. and Stupendous Man's victories over Annoying Girl and Babysitter Girl.

C: Senior year of high school, age 14, wasn't I tall, like 5'8"? I was kinda buff too. And we added like 20 levels to the V.R. suit, including _Nuke the Seven Wonders of the World _and_ Shoot the Meat with an RPG._ I graduated high school with straight A++'s and I was offered about 15 college scholarships.

H: I remember that your parents fainted when they saw all of the scholarship offers. Your dad actually used your virtual reality suit. _The Most Lethal Character-Building Ever,_ if I remember correctly.

C: Yeah, that was awesome, seeing Dad flounder and flail like that. College was fun. Me and Jim went to the same college, actually. Harvard, in Massachusetts. Freshman year in college was really weird. I don't remember much about it.

H: Yeah, you had that accident with the Cerebral Enhance-o-tron first week of your sophomore year.

C: My entire freshman year is a blur... But I remember a couple things. You mauled like ten people because they criticized me bringing you. I studied astronomy, engineering, paleontology, chemistry, forensic science, psychology, and demolitions. Well, I didn't _officially_ study demolitions.

H: I _wondered_ what all those booms coming from your dorm were. Was that all simulated? It had to be. Right?

C: Uh... yeah, let's go with that. Six classes officially, one unofficial, good for me... Wait, Seven classes... Harvard actually put in a new program for me. Driver's Ed at a college... that's a novelty. I was 15...

H: And let's not forget the most important thing for _me_ that happened that year. 2001 was the first year Harvard started letting tigers study there. Not only was I allowed to study my true passions (tackle football, physics, and biology), I met my wife there. Kate was so beautiful... she had all the things I look for in a tigress.

C: I know... Red hair, green eyes, a nice laugh, long whiskers, who you could call "Pooty Pie" or "Bitsy Pookums".

H: Oh, Kate... _-Hobbes sighed-_

C: Yeah, yeah, yeah... Then, in my sophomore year, there was that accident with the Cerebral Enhance-O-Tron. Even with that, I still was fine. Kept all of my grades up, got my driver's license. It was one of my favorite years of college. I had such a good scholarship, it even included $10,000 spare cash which I bought a car with. It was AWESOME!

H: Yeah... Didn't you start making your fortune by building that giant V-R suit mass-production device in your dorm room? Huh, that was one big machine. didn't it cost like...

C: Actually, nothing. I got the parts from the lab. It was the giant fighting robot arena that cost me money. It's natural to be be confused. And during various school breaks, I visited Susie, to lord over my academic success. I also visited Moe in juvenile detention. He flunked out of school at age 12 and did various stupid things. Each Christmas, I would visit him with a cake that said "_You Have No Life, and Will Be In Jail Until You Die_". That pretty much sums up my sophomore year.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

Yeah, I know, weak cliffhanger, but it doesn't need cliffhangers!

SPOILER ALERT: Calvin is a businessman/cat burglar.


	5. Visser Three

The Hork-Bajir pointed his laser- gun- whatever it was, into the darkness around him. His snake head swerved around left, right, up, down, everywhere, trying to penetrate the gloom.

[**Silence!**] the Andalite warned. [**Hork-Bajir do not see very well in the dark, but their hearing is exceptional.**]

The Hork-Bajir moved even closer. He was maybe six feet away now, with just a crumbling, ancient wall between us and him. It was impossible that he hadn't heard our pounding hearts. But maybe he didn't recognize the sound. Maybe he didn't know enough to go to the sounds of three quivering, teeth-chattering, terrified kids. Kids who were breathing in short, ragged gasps. I was certain I would die, right there and than. I could even see it in my mind's eye, the vicious wrist- and elbow-blades slicing my carotid, snapping my neck, and separating my head from my body.

I doubt you've ever been truly afraid. And by "truly" I mean adrenaline-rush, can't-stay-still, wet-your-pants fear. And let me tell you something. It does stuff to you. It takes over your body and mind. you want to scream. You want to run. You want to cry, throw yourself on the ground, and beg "Please, please, please, please, please, please don't kill me, I'm begging you!"

If you think you're brave, just wait until you're cowering behind a wall, four feet away away from a monster that can literally turn you to human salsa in about two seconds flat. Then you'll see how brave you really are.

But right then, the Andalite's voice was in my head saying, [**Courage, friends.**]

And when I heard that, this... warm.. this... this warm... I can't describe it. No words can describe it. Just this warm... feeling washed over me, making me less scared, braver, stronger, less panicky. Is that a word? I'm not sure. Oh, never mind.

The whole situation was still just as terrifying. The Taxxons and Hork-Bajir were still there, real and so, so deadly. I could hear them breathing. I could smell them. But at the same time, I could feel my panic becoming controllable. I could feel strength and courage flowing into me from the Andalite. He was lending me his bravery, even though he must have been as scared as we were.

The Hork-Bajir walked away. Something was coming from the Blade ship.

Trembling and shaking, I rose just high enough to peer over the wall. All of the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons were facing towards the Blade ship.

"Are they... wait... they are! They're standing at attention!" I whispered.

"You can tell when a living razor blade from hell or a ten-foot long centipede with little crab arms is standing at attention?" Max asked me rhetorically.

Then, _he_ appeared.

[**Visser Three,**] the Andalite said. When I saw the expression in his eyes, I could almost _see_ the hatred pulsating from him.

Visser Three was an Andalite-Controller.

"What the.." Max whispered with huge eyes, "That's- that's an Andalite!"

[**Only once has a Yeerk been able to take an Andalite body. There is only one Andalite-Controller. He is is Visser Three.**]

Visser Three walked confidently towards the wounded Andalite. They looked so much alike, I could barely tell them apart at first, but after a minute or two, I could tell them apart despite their physical similarities. It was like... like the Visser had a false mask of sweetness, like the scent of perfume over rotting sewage.

[**Hmmm.**] I came very, very close to finally going insane as soon I realized I was _hearing _the Visser's thoughts. If Betsy hadn't put her hand over my mouth, I would have screamed. Looking at Max and Betsy, I tapped the side of my head, trying to gesture my question, _can he hear our thoughts?_

[**He cannot hear your thoughts, no one can, unless you are in morph and are directing them towards a specific person, a group, or everyone within range. You are hearing his thoughts because this is a great victory for him. He is boasting to all who can hear, because he wants all to know.**]

I was still impressed that even though this strange alien was doomed, he was trying to help three complete strangers stop aliens from destroying Earth, a planet that he had no connection to. He was truly noble.

[**What do we have here? An Andalite, meddling in someone else's business. Well, that is what Andalites do best.**] Then, the Visser examined the Andalite's ship closer. [**Oh, and not just any ordinary Andalite warrior. War-Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, correct? An honor to meet you, you are a legend. How many of our fighters did you shred? Seven, or perhaps by the end of the battle, it was eight.**]

Looking into all four of the Visser's eyes, Elfangor (I am _so_ happy I can stop calling him "the Andalite") replied, [**Do not speak to me of honor, you filthy abomination.**] And I definitely got the feeling it was more than eight. It was so cool that even though Elfangor knew he was going to be killed, he had enough courage to talk balk to who was probably one of the leaders of an alien invasion force that was trying to take over the planet.

[**You are the very last Andalite in this sector of space. Your Dome ship was completely destroyed, burnt up in the atmosphere of this little world.**]

[**More will come,**] Elfangor insisted.

Taking a step towards Elfangor, Visser Three said, [**When any more Andalites arrive, it will be too late. This world will be mine. My contribution to the Empire, our greatest conquest. And I will be made Visser **_**One**_**.**]

[**Why do you want these humans. You have your Taxxon allies, your Hork-Bajir shock-troop slaves. And countless other slaves from different worlds. Why this species?**]

[**Because of their numbers, and their weakness. Billions of host bodies! They know nothing of what is happening. When we finish here, we can spread throughout the galaxy, invincible. Billions of us! We will need thousands of Yeerks pools built to raise Yeerks for this amount of hosts. Andalite, you have fought bravely, and fought well, but you have lost.**]

When Visser Three stepped right up to Elfangor, I could feel his fear, but he didn't back down, or cower. He fought his wound's pain and climbed to his feet. He knew he wouldn't survive, but he wanted to die looking his enemy in the face.

Visser Three wasn't done taunting Elfangor. [**There is one thing I promise you, Prince Elfangor. Once we have conquered this world, with all of its hosts, we will attack the Andalite home world. I will hunt down your family myself, and make sure my most faithful lieutenants are placed in their heads. And I honestly hope they resist, so I can hear their minds scream.**]

Hate in his eyes, Elfangor struck! His tail whipped up and over, so fast I couldn't actually see the attack, only the wound. If the Visser hadn't turned his head aside at the exact right moment, it would have been slashed open, but the strike only hit his shoulder, where something like blood sprayed out.

When I heard the Visser's [**Aaaaaarrrrrgh!**] of pain in my head, I let out a silent "Yes!"

While this was happening, a bolt of blue energy burst from Elfangor's ship's tail. It sliced through the nearest Bug fighter; Hork-Bajir and Taxxons scattered.

Even from my hiding place, I could feel the heat, a blistering wave of it. The Bug fighter was completely gone.

[**Attack! Burn his ship!**] I was nearly blinded temporarily by the red beams from the Blade ship and Bug fighter that was still there, blasting Elfangor's ship which disintegrated slowly.

[**Take the Andalite. Hold him for me.**]

Three of the bigger Hork-Bajir grabbed Elfangor and held him down, wrist-blades to his throat. I knew they wouldn't kill him though.

That was meant to be for Visser Three personally.

Then, hitting me like a lightning bolt, I knew why Visser Three had an Andalite body. As I watched, he began to morph.

His Andalite head grew a lot bigger, huge. His legs merged together into two legs, then expanded to the thicknesses of redwood trees. His weak Andalite arms liquified and turned into tentacles. On a hideous, bloated head, a mouth appeared. The teeth inside were each longer than my arm. As I watched in silent horror, the mouth grew wider and wider, turning into a terrifying, monstrous grin. The Andalite body was gone. In its place was a monster.

"R-r-r-r-a-a-a-w-w-w-w-g-g-g!" I felt like Visser Three's roar had made the ground shake. Covering my ears with my hands, I found myself shaking uncontrollably.

"R-r-r-r-a-a-a-w-w-w-w-g-g-g!"

Visser Three had morphed into a monster that made the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons look like action figures. Reaching out with a thick tentacle, he grabbed Elfangor by the neck.

I heard Betsy whispering, "No, no, no," over and over again, looking away. I kept my eyes on Elfangor. He was sacrificing himself to save Earth, and us. I owed it to him to not look away when he was going to die.

Visser Three lifted Elfangor into the air, tearing him away from the Hork-Bajir, and thought-speak laughing at the tail-slashes Elfangor was giving him. They were like pinpricks to a monster this size.

Visser Three held Elfangor high in the air. And Visser Three opened his mouth wide.


	6. The Death of the Prince

Staring hard at Elfangor, I made myself a promise. I was going to avenge this noble alien's death if it was the last thing I do. I was literally shaking with anger and rage, and I was about thirty seconds away from snapping, grabbing some kind of improvised weapon, and getting myself killed. It took me a full ten seconds to get my anger under control. Nearly silently, I muttered to myself, "That filthy..." I stared so hard, I felt like my eyes would break from the pressure. Uncontrollably, I made the worst hand gesture I could think of, and would have started yelling and swearing if Betsy and Max hadn't covered my mouth when they had.

Risking a glance over the wall, I saw that Elfangor was still helpless in Visser Three's tentacles. He was held high up in the air. I saw Visser Three open his massive jaws. He loosened his tentacles, and Elfangor fell into that monstrous mouth. Then, the mouth closed. The teeth ripped Elfangor apart.

And Andalite War-Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul died. He cried out at the end, a terrible yell of despair that will be in all of our minds forever.

The Hork-Bajir started making a weird huffing sound, like _whuh-whuh-whuh. _Maybe it was applause or laughter. For some reason all the Taxxon-Controllers rushed up to crowd around Visser Three. After a few seconds I saw the reason. A piece of Andalite meat fell out of the huge monster's jaws, and one of the Taxxons greedily gobbled it up.

I looked down, my face buried in my hands. I could feel tears streaming out of my eyes. Then I heard a sound that was strangely... normal. Laughter, as in _human_ laughter. Taking a peek above the wall, I saw humans... no, _Controllers, _laughing. Like the cold-blooded murder of someone trying to save a planet was some kind of _show._

Demorphing to his original form, Visser Three thought, [**Nothing quite like an Antarean Bogg morph for... taking a bite out of your enemies.**]

Struggling to keep my nausea under control, I knew I just had to wait and eventually all the aliens would leave, so we could go home. Sure enough, after a while of huffing, laughing, and mocking, the Visser, the Hork-Bajir, the Taxxons, and all the human-Controllers boarded the Blade ship and single Bug fighter.

When we were sure that both ships were completely out of range, we left our hiding place and got home as fast as we could. Frazzled, brain-tired and extremely paranoid, I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

* * *

**The Next Day**

I woke up at about noon, not able to believe that I could feel so refreshed after that kind of night, but I guess fifteen hours of sleep will do that to you.

As I walked out of my bedroom in my pajamas I heard my mom ask, "Did you just wake up? It's 12:07."

"Guess I was kind of tired. What's for lunch? I haven't eaten since dinner last night, like eighteen hours ago. I'm starving."

"There's some pasta, a little chicken, and some leftover potatoes. Oh, I just remembered! Betsy said she needs to talk to you."

Taking a plateful of chicken and potatoes, I began to mentally assess the last night's events. If it wasn't just a horrible nightmare or an insane delusion, then... an eleven-year-old, a nine-year-old, and a thirteen-year-old were the only defense the Earth has from being taken over by brain-infesting aliens. That's the scariest thing I can think of. But the conclusion I came to was always the same.

"We have to fight." It was a few hours later, after Betsy and Max had gotten home from school (I'm home-schooled) and we were in this one place we all know about, where we can't ever be found. We were arguing about what to do.

"Yeah, we do," Max firmly said, "We have to fight, because we're the only ones who can."

"Okay, yeah, I guess we do," Betsy finally agreed, "But how do we even get these morphs, much less know how to use them."

"I guess we just.. try," I said. First, I emptied my pockets, which contained about a dollar in change, a still-wrapped hard candy, the three-dimensional picture of Elfangor with his family, and the blue morphing cube. The picture let out a "Woah" from Betsy and Max.

"This was in Elfangor's ship, I took it when I got the morphing cube. You know... something to remember him by."

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and concentrated on a picture of Elfangor in my mind. After about ten seconds, I looked down and saw that my skin was starting to turn blue-and-tan and sprout fur. My non-thumb fingers fused and then split into six weaker fingers per hand. Then my thumbs and arms morphed, becoming a little weaker. Two tiny Andalite front legs sprouted from my chests, rapidly growing. My spine and skeleton started shifting and cracking and reshaping as my human legs morphed into Andalite ones. My spine had shifted and front legs had grown so that I was a quadruped. Then, I felt a bulge come out of my... well, I could feel my tail growing in, starting like a worm with a needle attached, and growing until it was more like a cobra and a machete. My lips started to disappear, and then my mouth was gone altogether. My nose flattened and my nostrils altered themselves while my ears extended and pointed themselves. Then, last but not least, my eyes expanded and a new pair grew in on stalks. I had 360 degree vision, a faster-than-the eye-can-see tail with a blade, and...

[**Can you guys hear me?**]

Looking only a little bit startled, Betsy and Max simultaneously said, "Yeah, we can hear you."

[**This is awesome!**] I gave an experimental twitch of my tail, then... I felt something in my head. Like... The instincts of an Andalite.

[**Guys, I'm not just in an Andalite body. I **_**am**_** an Andalite. I have Andalite instincts. It's not battle instincts though, it's like... optimism. Yeah, that's the word. Intense optimism instincts. Try saying that three times fast.**]

Using my stalk eyes, I scanned the room, noticing things I'd never seen before. Giving another experimental slash, I smiled with my eyes. Looking at my friends, I came to an undebatable conclusion.

[**We need to get you guys some firepower.**]


	7. Firepower

Looking at me, seeing the tail, the speed, and all the other obvious physical advantages, Betsy and Max said one thing to say: "Oh, we _so _do."

[**Where, though? Zoo?**]

"No," Max said, "that's like halfway across town. Anyone got any other ideas?"

"Ooh! I heard there's this 'dangerous animal' exhibit thing a couple blocks away. They've got leopards, wolves, bears and other stuff like that."

Closing all four eyes, I began to demorph. First, I heard a sucking sound as my tail got sucked in, then my front legs shrunk back into my chest. Without my front legs, I promptly fell forward. Next a hole appeared in my mouth, growing until it was full-size mouth before my lips even grew in. After that, my hooves morphed first into hoof-texture feet, and then to regular feet. My spine shrank and reshaped until I was biped-shaped again. Then my stalk eyes diminished until they were gone completely, while my eyes, ears, and nose reshaped themselves. Finally my arms strengthened and my fingers melted together. I was a blue-and-tan human with fur. Then the fur got sucked back into my skin and...

"Uh, Max, can you go back to the house to get me some clothes? These are kind of destroyed. At least my shoes are OK. I morphed right out of them."

* * *

**Later that day**

"Dibs on the wolf," said Betsy.

"Ooh, a grizzly bear, Max said happily.

"I like my Andalite, but I'm getting a leopard too," I said looking in a cage admiringly. "Just one problem. There's no way to get one. They're all staying away, on the far sides of the cages. Any suggestions?"

Smiling like a tiger about to pounce, Betsy said, "I'm going to need a live fly, a huge and long-lasting distraction, and a tub of fried chicken wings."

Looking at Betsy skeptically, Max said, "Um, I get the fly and the distraction, but why do you need a tub of fried chicken?"

"I'm hungry," she whined.

"Just tell me when it's time to pull the fire alarm," I muttered resignedly.

"I'll get a fly," Max said, rolling his eyes.

* * *

"OK, here's a fly, and Kevin is over there by the fire alarm, ready," I heard Max say.

Betsy took a fly in her hand and shut her eyes, and I could almost see the DNA flowing into her. She signaled me, and I ran over to them. I told there was a way to make the distraction without getting me in trouble. Reaching into my backpack, I pulled out my BB pistol.

"Never leave home without it," I said, smirking. Then, aiming carefully, I shot a BB with just the right angle so that it activated the fire alarm. Smiling, I said, "Mad skills."

As the sprinklers started turning on, I saw Betsy slip away and come back 42 seconds later (I counted) as a common housefly. She flew through the bars and started to writhe and twist. About a minute an a half later, her hand was resting on the wolf's flank (That's "side", if you didn't know already) and the wolf was calm, almost motionless. I had never seen a wolf so relaxed.

Acquiring trance, I thought. Then I thought, Where did that come from?

Seeing Max going through the same routine, I smiled. This was _cool_. But before I could even get the DNA from the fly, I was shepherded out by the people in charge. Glancing around, I smirked, satisfied. The _fire trucks_ had come.

"Betsy, Max, you both okay? Seriously, are you two okay?"

"Would have preferred it if there hadn't been any mirrors, but otherwise..." they muttered simultaneously.

After that, I started wandering the crowd until I saw someone I recognized.

"Hey, I know you. You're one of my brother's friends. Isn't your name... um... Jake?

"Yeah, you're Kevin, right?" And I would have answered, but the world turned gray and I collapsed, unconscious.


End file.
